Page 63 of Restless
Rebel scooted in front of Bishop, blocking his exit. Before he thought to go around her, she grabbed his hand and held it. “CJ says Momma has been asking for me, Daddy.”
“You touchin’ my girl, Bishop. If you ain’t lettin’ her go, Ima chop your fuckin’ hand off.”
Gulping, Bishop tried to yank his hand away, but Rebel tightened her grip.
“Poor Aunt Meggie,” Tabitha said with a sad shake of her head. “If she was my mother, I wouldn’t leave her side so she wouldn’t have to ask for me.”
“Yo, bitch,” Rebel said, losing her patience. “I didn’t ask for your fucking advice. And, if she wasyourmother, you’d want to fucking pull your weight at home to help Bunny with the house and kids, so shut the fuck up, kiss my fucking ass, and don’t offer what I haven’t fucking requested.” In the pin drop silence that followed, she glared at her father. “As for you, Daddy, if you haveanothercup of coffee, I’m telling Momma that you haven’t been sleeping, you haven’t been eating, and you’ve been surviving on coffee. Then, I’m calling Lolly.” She held up her and Bishop’s entwined hands. “Your choice. I’ll let him go if you tell him to get you a sandwich and a beer—”
“This a hospital, baby,” Daddy interrupted, as out of it as CJ claimed. Otherwise, he would’ve handed her and Bishop their asses on a platter for defying him. “Ain’t serving no beer.”
“Uncle Chris, the cabin is still a viable option,” Tabitha said, throwing Rebel a look of dislike.
“Right back at you, bitch,” Rebel snapped. “What cabin are you referring to? One filled with bear traps and noxious fumes?”
Diesel huffed a breath. “Rebel, enough. Tabitha offered Uncle Chris the use of her family’s cabin so he could rest. She even suggested Aunt Meggie go there to finish recovering.”
“The solitude might do her good,” Tabitha said. “She’d be alone and isolated.”
Daddy yawned again and Diesel patted Tabitha’s back. Only Rebel took issue with her choice of words. Why, she wasn’t sure.
“Why would you want Momma alone and isolated?”
“For time to recover,” Tabitha said. “What do you think I meant?”
“She feel bein’ alone might benefit your ma.”
“And what doyoufeel, Daddy?”
He shrugged. “Ain’t sure, baby.”
Alarmed, Rebel sighed and released Bishop’s hand.
“Uncle Chris, I think taking Aunt Meggie on a vacation once Jo is released might be just what you both need,” Diesel suggested.
“But it would help if Aunt Meggie was…” Tabitha’s voice trailed off at Diesel’s raised eyebrow.
Swaying, Daddy blinked, and Rebel worried he’d collapse at any moment.
“I’ll get you some food, Daddy,” she said. “Why don’t you go back to Momma’s room and…uh…see if she wants something special to eat?”
“Okay, baby.”
“Why don’t I go with you, Uncle Chris?” Tabitha offered, an unexpected boon since Rebel hadn’t known how she’d get rid of her. “I can talk to Aunt Meggie about the cabin.”
He grunted, then turned and walked in the same direction he’d come with Tabitha hot on his heels.
“Okay, sweetheart,” Diesel said once Daddy and Tabitha were out of view, “what are you scheming?”
“First, Diesel, tell that bitch to back off. And tell her to shut the fuck up about sending my mother away, alone in the fucking woods. That’s horror movie vibes, dickhead.”
“Aunt Meggie wouldn’t go without Uncle Chris, so I don’t have to say anything. Tabitha is just trying to be helpful, so stop with your overactive imagination.”
Rebel scowled but abandoned the conversation. “Potter?” she called.
“Yo?”
“Get Daddy a roast beef sandwich with some fries and a Coke. Crush a Xanax or two and add to the drink.”
